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As part of NEHA's continuos effort to provide convenient access to information and resources, we have gathered together for you the links in this section. Our mission is "to advance the environmental health and protection professional for the purpose of providing a healthful environment for all,” as well as to educate and inform those outside the profession.

Abstract

To assess food safety program performance, the Tennessee Department of Health conducted food service surveys of randomly selected establishments and reviewed routine inspection reports by environmental health specialists (EHSs) of the same facilities. The individual restaurant sanitation scores, along with types and frequencies of violations noted by the survey team, were compared with records from the previous year. In addition, EHSs were observed as they each performed two routine inspections. Survey team staff consistently marked more critical violations than did field EHS staff. Differences between survey teams and field EHS staff in marking critical violations were statistically significant for all 10 critical violations in the first review cycle, 8 in the second cycle, and 7 in the third cycle. Over the course of the review period, there was a small but measurable improvement in scoring by field EHS staff. Marking of critical violations increased, sanitation scores decreased, and discrepancies with survey teams in both areas decreased.

Abstract

During July–August 2013, a gastroenteritis outbreak occurred among rafters at Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon River. To identify the agent, source, and risk factors for illness, we solicited ill and well persons who rafted during July 1–September 23 to respond to an online survey, and conducted a case-control study. Cases were defined as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea ≤25 days after rafting; control subjects were rafters who did not have these symptoms. Illness was associated with having consumed filtered river water—70% of (69/98) case subjects and 38% of (106/280) control subjects had consumed filtered water (odds ratio [OR] = 3.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] [2.4, 6.4]). In a follow-up online survey of 33 case subjects and 73 control subjects, boiling water for drinking was protective against illness; 2/18 case subjects, compared with 15/33 control subjects, had boiled their drinking water (OR = 0.2; 95% CI [0.03, 0.9]). From ill rafters, norovirus (n = 3) and Giardia (n = 8) were detected in stool specimens. Norovirus was detected on surfaces and E. coli in surface water used for drinking. Adherence to backcountry drinking water treatment recommendations is advised.

Studies about environmental burdens often explore overall community risk. Increasing evidence suggests, however, differential burdens by gender and age. The purpose of the authors’ research was to determine if gender-related difference exists among children in a region plagued with poor air quality and if increased exposure to pollutants from a major goods movement rail yard influences the relationship. Using a cross-sectional study design, the authors provided respiratory screening for children at two elementary schools. Compared to females, males were at significantly greater odds of exhibiting elevated fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) but less likely to exhibit reduced lung volume. Even in an area of overall poor air quality, the authors found that male children were a vulnerable subpopulation for greater elevated FeNO, while females were at increased risk for reduced lung capacity. Understanding differential burdens in vulnerable subpopulations is critical to providing timely and responsive strategies targeted towards health-based prevention and intervention activities.